The concept of 2-D barcodes is of great relevance for use in wireless data transmission between handheld electronic devices. In a typical setup, any file on a cell phone, for example, can be transferred to a second cell phone through a series of images on the LCD which are then captured and decoded through the camera of the second cell phone. In this study, a new approach for data modulation in 2-D barcodes is introduced, and its performance is evaluated in comparison to other standard methods of barcode modulation. In this new approach, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation is used together with differential phase shift keying (DPSK) over adjacent frequency domain elements. A specific aim of this study is to establish a system that is proven tolerant to camera movements, picture blur, and light leakage within neighboring pixels of an LCD.

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Background: The pulmonary vasculature is essential for gas exchange and impacts both pulmonary and cardiac function. However, it is difficult to assess and its characteristics in the general population are unknown. We measured pulmonary blood volume (PBV) noninvasively using contrast enhanced, dual-energy computed tomography to evaluate its relationship to age and symptoms among older adults in the community. Methods: The MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) is an ongoing community-based, multicenter cohort. All participants attending the most recent MESA exam were selected for contrast enhanced dual-energy computed tomography except those with estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min per 1.73 m 2 . PBV was calculated by material decomposition of dual-energy computed tomography images. Multivariable models included age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, height, weight, smoking status, pack-years, and scanner model. Results: The mean age of the 727 participants was 71 (range 59–94) years, and 55% were male. The race/ethnicity distribution was 41% White, 29% Black, 17% Hispanic, and 13% Asian. The mean±SD PBV in the youngest age quintile was 547±180 versus 433±194 mL in the oldest quintile ( P <0.001), with an approximately linear decrement of 50 mL per 10 years of age ([95% CI, 32–67]; P <0.001). Findings were similar with multivariable adjustment. Lower PBV was associated independently with a greater dyspnea after a 6-minute walk ( P =0.04) and greater composite dyspnea symptom scores ( P =0.02). Greater PBV was also associated with greater height, weight, lung volume, Hispanic race/ethnicity, and nonsmoking history. Conclusions: Pulmonary blood volume was substantially lower with advanced age and was associated independently with greater symptoms scores in the elderly.

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Abstract-This paper proposes an algorithm to lessen the impacts of variety of distortions occurred in aerial images. The proposed algorithm detects the noisy pixels in a given image using fuzzy logic based technique in an iterative manner, then the noisy image is corrected based on the cellular structure modeling to filter out the noise. Our solution for noise reduction overcomes the difficulties of cellular automaton (CA) model in noise estimation and finds the accurate noisy mask by providing a fuzzy technique. Simulation results of the proposed algorithm show the accuracy and effectiveness of this algorithm for image with high percentage of pepper and salt noise.

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This study reports systematic longitudinal pathophysiology of lung parenchymal and vascular effects of asymptomatic COVID-19 pneumonia in a young, healthy never-smoking male. Inspiratory and Expiratory non-contrast along with contrast Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) scans of the chest were performed at baseline on the day of acute COVID-19 diagnosis (Day 0), and across a 90 day period. Despite normal vital signs and pulmonary function tests on the day of diagnosis, the CT scans and corresponding quantification metrics detected abnormalities in parenchymal expansion based on image registration, ground glass (GGO) texture (inflammation) as well as DECT-derived pulmonary blood volume (PBV). Follow-up scans on Day 30 showed improvement in the lung parenchymal mechanics as well as reduced GGO and improved PBV distribution. Improvements in lung PBV continued until Day 90. However, the heterogeneity of parenchymal mechanics and texture-derived GGO increased on Days 60 and 90. We highlight that even asymptomatic COVID-19 infection with unremarkable vital signs and pulmonary function tests can have measurable effects on lung parenchymal mechanics and vascular pathophysiology, which may follow apparently different clinical courses. For this asymptomatic subject, post COVID-19 regional mechanics demonstrated persistent increased heterogeneity concomitant with return of elevated GGOs, despite early improvements in vascular derangement.